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[FYI] Judge Bars eBay Crawler



http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/CNET/cnet_ebay000525.html

Judge Bars eBay Crawler

By Troy Wolverton
CNET News.com

5/25/2000 
A federal judge has sided with eBay,
issuing a preliminary injunction barring
Bidder's Edge from using an automated
system to search eBay's site for auction
information. 

The injunction, granted yesterday by U.S.
District Court Judge Ronald Whyte, goes into
effect June 8. 

Whyte granted the injunction on the grounds
that Bidder's Edge's searches slowed or had
the potential to slow eBay's service. 

"It is undisputed that eBay's server and its
capacity are personal property, and that
Bidder's Edge's searches use a portion of that
property," Whyte wrote in his order. "Even if its
searches use only a small amount of eBay's
computer system capacity, Bidder's Edge has
nonetheless deprived eBay of the ability to use
that portion of its personal property for its own
purposes. The law recognizes no such right to
use another's personal property." 

...

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